Wow. Could not stop reading this electrifying, sometimes shocking memoir. I cried throughout the entire end. Brodeur is a master at atmosphere andWow. Could not stop reading this electrifying, sometimes shocking memoir. I cried throughout the entire end. Brodeur is a master at atmosphere and scene setting, and I felt fully IN Cape Cod, in their Boston suburb mansion, in NYC, in San Diego. I felt the sun. Smelled the salt. And Brodeur does throughout this amazing story what I want in all books of all genres, she gives gives gives all the wonderful sensory aspects of food. The sizzle and smell of garlic frying in butter, so on. So many examples. I seriously love this book, which is both beautiful and heartbreaking. I would read anything written by Brodeur, with hopes she turns her immeasurable talents to a full length fiction should she wish. This will make my 2020 Top Reads for sure, and it’s already a shoe-in for the select few that make it into my year end dinner of top reads for close friends. It’s that good....more
I started Keto in October (2019) to address a chronic inflammation issue, low energy, and overall concentration. I’ll be damned if it absolutelyI started Keto in October (2019) to address a chronic inflammation issue, low energy, and overall concentration. I’ll be damned if it absolutely worked in all those areas. I picked up Suzanne’s book recently to help motivate me to dig in even deeper and learn new recipes. I very much liked Suzanne’s attitude and approach. She is very encouraging, non-judgmental, and most importantly, she presents a welcoming, non-intimidating mindset to Keto. Pretty much all of the recipes are ones I’ll try. I already tried the snickerdoodles and they’re fabulous. Highly recommend if you’re considering or already in Keto....more
First off, I wish you could see my copy so you could to see my fingerprint evidence of me hanging on to this book for dear life. Leave it to Jennifer First off, I wish you could see my copy so you could to see my fingerprint evidence of me hanging on to this book for dear life. Leave it to Jennifer Hillier to make my flights to and from DC fly by too fast, so fast, I had to read while walking to baggage claim. ALL of the characters in this wonderful thriller are so masterfully complex. All of them, every single one, do bad things and good things and inexplicable things and things you want to hug them for and things you want to punch them in the gut for. They are so very very human, humans dealing with big time stuff. Honestly, it was a masterclass in writing complex characters. Especially the women characters. The scenery is fabulous and I felt I was IN Pike Place market, in Marin’s craftsman style home, in a winery, in a bar, in a hair salon. LIKE I WAS REALLY TRANSPORTED to all these cool ass places. Hillier ratchets up the tension so perfectly perfect. By the end, I wasn’t breathing. I was talking out loud on the plane and didn’t give a flip about my seat mate. I was like, “No no no no, go go go go, omg omg omg.” Yeah. And I challenge anyone to read chapter 13 and not feel every single possible emotion about this one female character. Like, every single one. Friggin fantastic. Hillier knocks it out of the park again. 5 Big Fat Stars. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️...more
I burned through this. And I’m sad it’s over. Super compelling, super smart, and I honest to goodness hope to Holy rolling hell theyI am not worthy.
I burned through this. And I’m sad it’s over. Super compelling, super smart, and I honest to goodness hope to Holy rolling hell they make some bingy series out of this so I can see all these creeps at the Institute up in creepy-ol forested Maine. And talking of CREEEEEEEP FACTOR, when you finally get to the back half of back half, wow. That was probably the best creepy writing I’ve ever read. Vivid and solid and a gut punch. I still FEEL the feeling of centipedes hatching eggs in my skin on “seeing” what was going on back there.
That damn airport bookstore gets me every single time! As if my TBR wasn't already a mile high. I complain, but I got to say, that airport bookstoreThat damn airport bookstore gets me every single time! As if my TBR wasn't already a mile high. I complain, but I got to say, that airport bookstore trap has rewarded me in such huge ways. It's how I found Karen Russell's MASTERPIECE Swamplandia!, Erin Morgenstern's CRAZY ADDICTIVE Night Circus, and now, Rachel DeLoache Williams' ABSOLUTELY UNPUTDOWNABLE My Friend Anna.
Here's the Honest to Witches truth. I already had a book in my bag to read on the plane, along with a book I need to write on my computer. So did I need My Friend Anna? NO! But that cover and the story yanked me straight out of the TSA nightmare and straight on into Logan's Delta terminal bookstore. It's not my fault. The book made me buy her. I started right away, and finished, in between work stuff, in one day.
This is riveting true crime stuff here. And also, all the familiar places I know in SoHo are right there. Even the little secret of a gem, The Ship (a bar in SoHo that is a must, a total must, but don't tell anyone, so we can keep it a secret gem).
DeLoache Williams' writing is exceptional. This reads like a poetic literary novel in many parts, and not a true-crime expose. She delivers a lot of NY and Morocco atmosphere, in such a captivating way, I felt I was there. I felt too that I was living the angst of the horrible situation Anna put DeLoache Williams in. In short, the scenery and the emotions are SHOWN to the reader in a truly fantastic and well-crafted way. I hope DeLoache Williams continues writing, fiction or non-fiction, I don't care. I'll read whatever she delivers next.
I also found it quite a gift that she was so open in showing her vulnerability and her victimhood in this situation. I could see how it could happen, even though you might think at the start it could never happen to you. Con artists are very good at what they do, especially sociopathic ones, which, no doubt, this Anna is.
There's also one very tiny, small scene, that I found really touching. And I'm not sure why it brought a smile and a tear to my eye, but it did. I think it's because this scene said a lot about the humanity of the author and the humanity of many really-good, down-to-earth New Yorkers, and it also meant that the narrator (and thus I as the reader who was very invested at this point) had turned a corner and all would be well. It's a scene in a bar when she unfolds her story to a bartender and the bartender tells her the meal is on the house. I loved that vignette.
This is one of the most compelling reads for me in a long time. A front-row view to the story leading up to the capture of Anna Devley, the fake heiress who monopolized headlines this year in a truly salacious trial. I would put this at the top of your TBR. ...more
Me: I LOVE, I mean I'm obsessed with, financial/white-collar crimes exposes like The Big Short (really anything by Michael Lewis), Billion DollarMe: I LOVE, I mean I'm obsessed with, financial/white-collar crimes exposes like The Big Short (really anything by Michael Lewis), Billion Dollar Whale, Bad Blood, etc. Like I EAT the words like a glutton. AND I also LOVE LOVE LOVE psychological thrillers with a bad-ass, SMART female lead. AND, I also like a book with education and meaning and an important message. Oh oh oh, and I really LOVE books that give me huge doses of atmosphere, especially the New England atmosphere. I wish I had all that in one book, but that's impossible, right?
Vanessa Lillie: Not impossible, here.
OMG. This book. Look, it's a page-turner, it's a twisty thriller with an awesome, strong, whip-smart female lead--who, by the way, is not all perfect nor even all-together SUPER strong, she's human. But like, a really awesome, strong and real human. She just has some flaws. And it's got a twist, all that. All the makings of a fabulous psychological thriller.
But it is way more than just that.
I really love books that show strong women with professional skills, professional language, professional thoughts. Imagine Leslie Knope in a serious murder investigation, with all her binders and charts and tabs. Twist Knope's comedy to something more akin to biting wit, satirical and wise, and you have Devon. Don't get me wrong, Little Voices is not a comedy in the least. It's just that Devon does pepper her narrative with some satirical observations that made me find her intellectual and strong--she could take herself out of a situation and observe herself or situations and comment on it in a satisfying, meta way. I like that. She talks of variables and financial and political maneuverings with ease, making her an intelligent and interesting lead to follow through a murder investigation. Oh and heap on the fact she's carrying around a prematurely born child, and she's got postpartum.
And this is the piece I think Lillie handles so well, and frankly, I'm appreciative of what she did here. If you haven't lived through incredibly tumultuous post-birth emotions, postpartum, even depression at any stage, birth or no, I hope you will recognize the genius with how Lillie made a woman's thoughts during these times so very real, palatable to read (which to be honest, I was fearing, as who wants to live in such terror), understandable, and...given they way she wrote it, way less terrifying. Actually, she made it understandable and, for me, logical. There's one line that really stands out: "That's the problem with logic. It doesn't stand a chance against terror." This is something that resounds with me a great deal. It is something I fight in my own real life, and also in all of my own writing. It is such a true statement, and so, consciously recognizing it, I keep bolstering logic, fortifying logic, so as to fight terror, to flip it so that terror doesn't have a chance against logic.
And this is exactly what Lillie does here!! Devon can "recognize the thread of crazy" and she therefore acknowledges it, faces it, somewhat allows it, and therefore makes it controllable. She uses her logic throughout the book, her intelligence, her skills in organization and research, and she fights back the terror. And she solves a murder.
Also she gives atmosphere! Lillie captures the sights, the feel, the look of trees, the landscape, everything about Rhode Island. She doesn't hold back in setting scene and weaving in the "senses" through well-written prose in a scene. Exceptional.
Nothing not to love about this awesome, intriguing, exceptionally well-crafted, politico-financial murder thriller, that is not only a page-turner, but a model of how a woman can go through physical and mental wood-chippers, time and time again, and still be the strongest person in the room. Read it. ...more
Just go get this book and read it. I have read a lot of true crime novels and I honestly can say, this one is the most meticulously constructed andJust go get this book and read it. I have read a lot of true crime novels and I honestly can say, this one is the most meticulously constructed and gripping. Read in one day and skipped meals, that gripping. That well done. Last year I raved and raved about John Carreyrou’s amazing Bad Blood. And this year I am going to rave and rave and rave about American Predator. Just read it. Trust me. ...more
Kimberly Belle grabbed me by the arms, directed me to sit on down, and in her honey-southern way, politely, but sternly, told me to, “Sit right there,Kimberly Belle grabbed me by the arms, directed me to sit on down, and in her honey-southern way, politely, but sternly, told me to, “Sit right there, darlin, I’m going to tell you a tale, and you won’t want to move.” That’s what it felt like when I started the audio-book of Dear Wife, obsessively listening whenever I got any free minutes at all. And then switching to paper when I needed more time with the story. This is a gripping and thoughtful novel about spousal abuse. I found the intricate steps one might take to escape to be truly insightful and meticulously researched. To say this is gripping is an understatement. And as a bonus, despite the dark material, Belle has great timing on comic gold, sprinkled here and there to ease the rising tension just right. Just sugar sweet right. Highly recommended! ...more
I devoured this book in two days, in-between house guests and work conference calls. I could write a dissertation on my love of every single aspect ofI devoured this book in two days, in-between house guests and work conference calls. I could write a dissertation on my love of every single aspect of this book. I clung to every word, tears came when I came to the final word in the acknowledgements because I knew I was done done, really done, with the book.
I will update this review later with my many many thoughts on the colors and vivid scenes, how totally transported I was to Ayachero and the Tatinga villages. How blown away I was at this unique coming-of-age story for a fierce young woman. The shamans! What Beya did with that eagle!! But right now, I need to go order everything Ferencik has ever written. I’m a fan. I need more....more
I was lucky to moderate the serial killer in writing panel at the 2019 Left Coast conference and triple lucky because C.J. Box was on the panel. II was lucky to moderate the serial killer in writing panel at the 2019 Left Coast conference and triple lucky because C.J. Box was on the panel. I read The Highway to discuss with him, and wow, no wonder Box has hordes of fans. This book picks you up and hurdles you headlong down a speedway, frightening and yet totally exhilarating the entire time. The chapters from the POV of the killer are truly chilling, up there with the best in class serial killer tales. Beyond that, there’s some real educational stuff in here about the true dangers of highway rest stops, for which, and I didn’t know this before, the FBI has an entire task force. I’m surprised The Highway isn’t a major motion film yet. ...more
The Thin Edge is a fast-paced mystery set in the wildly vivid (due to Townsend’s good pen) San Francisco. Her eclectic crew of characters, a group ofThe Thin Edge is a fast-paced mystery set in the wildly vivid (due to Townsend’s good pen) San Francisco. Her eclectic crew of characters, a group of anti-govt bikers supporting an intrepid journalist, captivated me and made me smile. These are characters you want to spend time with. Really like the romantic tension Townsend is building between Aloa and a detective, and hope to watch that unfold in future novels. The central mystery in The Thin Edge was incredibly creative and unique—and gave me the shivers. ...more
I was lucky to moderate a serial killer in writing panel at the 2019 Left Coast Crime conference and Ashley was on the panel—the book du jour,I was lucky to moderate a serial killer in writing panel at the 2019 Left Coast Crime conference and Ashley was on the panel—the book du jour, Splinter in the Blood. I love this book. I love the main character, Ruth Lake, and love the dynamic with her partner, Carver. The science of the investigation felt like a Patricia Cornwwell novel, as well the intrigue. I really appreciated the complicated ethics of Ruth, something unique in detective novels, whereby she was going to fight like mad for her partner, but she didn’t go so far as to commit major obstruction for him—all the time. In other words, her character profile was multi-layered, highly intelligent, real, and relatable—especially for women professionals in male dominated careers.
I missed Ruth was I was done and look forward to the sequel, The Cutting Room. ...more
Aymar is one talent that can take on the serious topic of human trafficking in a meaningful way, and yet in fiction. Not an easy task. His charactersAymar is one talent that can take on the serious topic of human trafficking in a meaningful way, and yet in fiction. Not an easy task. His characters are multi-dimensional and masterfully constructed. I also liked his thoughtful consideration of a character with depression—something he pulls off in an accurate and educational way, and yet also entertaining. And above all else, there is nothing better than a full-throttle, take no mercy, slam a man’s head in a van door multiple times without batting an eye revenge thriller where the girl burns it all down. Nothing. Much respect The Unrepentant. Not everyone could pull all of this together and so well. But Aymar sure did. ...more
The ONLY good thing about a 15 hour flight is if you get an advance reader copy of One Night Gone. Like that is literally the only shining light. IThe ONLY good thing about a 15 hour flight is if you get an advance reader copy of One Night Gone. Like that is literally the only shining light. I read this in one flight and, honestly, made the flight whiz by. Loved the back and forth between current times and the 80’s (featuring many familiar items from my youth). Also loved the unique backstory on our main character, a weatherwoman, who has a very interesting breakdown on TV. I don’t want to give anything away, but one of the final scenes involved a super cool dramatic visual of the villain.... well...taking care of business. I could so see that whole wind whipping, coat flapping scene, and I loved every dastardly second of it. Also appreciated the subtle, sly inserts of magical realism w/r/t the basement, done in a clever way to make magical realism lovers like me happy, but subtle enough to deny for folks who want scientific reasons. Well done 😉....more
Good grief this mofo can write. Coyote Songs is a solid five of what I’m always looking for in books, raw, natural beauty. Some horrifying stuffGood grief this mofo can write. Coyote Songs is a solid five of what I’m always looking for in books, raw, natural beauty. Some horrifying stuff wrapped in fire and colors. When I think of Coyote Songs, I think of a deconstructed rainbow in a blazing bonfire, around which people and ghosts and demons lament a binding heartbreak of a song, not from their hearts, but from the depths of their souls or the souls they stole....more
Beware! Enter the sexy, sordid affairs of Raven Lane with a clear schedule, because you won't be able to put this HOT thriller down. Paired with yourBeware! Enter the sexy, sordid affairs of Raven Lane with a clear schedule, because you won't be able to put this HOT thriller down. Paired with your favorite vino or tea, you'll find the escape into this suspenseful page-turner full of delicious betrayals. Loved it. Clever. Unique. Hot. Devilish fun....more
This book is so heartwrenchingly beautiful (I cried a few times) and mixed with a thriller. A perfect mixed blend genre of a book. Honestly, it’s aThis book is so heartwrenchingly beautiful (I cried a few times) and mixed with a thriller. A perfect mixed blend genre of a book. Honestly, it’s a complete must read. I’m still shook thinking about many scenes throughout....more
I read the whole book this weekend, it’s a short read. This book starts out as a true satire and very very funny for the first few chapters. It thenI read the whole book this weekend, it’s a short read. This book starts out as a true satire and very very funny for the first few chapters. It then takes on a deeper and more serious tone. Despite the shift in tone, I was fully compelled by the main character and this entire book. It is also incredibly well written. This book should not be taken lightly. It is a serious insight into the life of a person gripped by depression. The author, thankfully, does not offer the cause our MC’s depression. Her family seems quite nice. And I appreciated that, given my own life experiences and people I know. Sometimes there are no tangible reasons. Or ones we might identify from our own POV on life. I think this is an important short read for anyone working with or living with (or having a family member or friend with) depression. I can only offer my highest praise for books here, and that is, this story made me want to be a nicer person to everyone I encounter, because I truly do not know their inner struggles. A kind act or word might not cure them, but it sure can’t hurt them moving through their day.
I’m concerned that the book is being pitched as a dark comedic satire and fear folks are expecting that and thus are reviewing it with that expectation in mind. Everyone is entitled to their own review, so I won’t comment further. For me, once I shifted to viewing this as really a book about depression, I viewed it as particularly well done. Extremely on point, IMHO.
Holy Cannoli! This book! I was lucky to find The Mastermind in my Left Coast Crime attendee bag last weekend. I have since devoured it. Another in aHoly Cannoli! This book! I was lucky to find The Mastermind in my Left Coast Crime attendee bag last weekend. I have since devoured it. Another in a series of amazing investigative journalist pieces on worldwide corruption coming out in the last year (standing tall up there with Carreyrou’s unputdownable Bad Blood and the also unputdownable Billion Dollar Whale by Brad Hope and Tom Wright). I don’t know how these journalists do it. Sorting through the amazing layered spider webs of unbelievable-but true-facts to create a thriller-esque digestible read. I sure thank them for their countless hours of work. This book is just plain marvelous, shocking, one I will not forget. The scope and breadth of crimes, the interlacing of law enforcement efforts, the detail on the trials and courtroom hearings (and as a lawyer, I found these parts especially well done and riveting). This is one of those books where the author makes you obsessed with the subject to the point you start doing your own google searching research. I appreciated too the nod in the end to the question lingering in my mind: Is Le Roux actually working for or with the CIA? Was he at least at some point? I’m sure we’ll never get the answer to that. In the least, this is surely a real-life Clancy or Le Carre or Ludlum book, or all of them boiled together. A must read....more
Shocking, riveting. Incredible story of international fraud. I’m sitting here still astounded at how many people fell for/aided Jho Low’s crimes.Shocking, riveting. Incredible story of international fraud. I’m sitting here still astounded at how many people fell for/aided Jho Low’s crimes. Moreover, a sobering look at how alleged democracies easily fall into autocracies when the ruler is allowed to shut down or thwart investigations and hide reports of said investigations. When rulers are allowed to profit from their power off the backs of the people. Sobering indeed. And although about Malaysia, hitting too close to home. Highly recommended....more
For me, Finding Katarina M “felt” like a mix of Kristin Hannah’s The Great Alone (for the sheer shockingMagnificent. Shocking. Compelling. Vivid.
For me, Finding Katarina M “felt” like a mix of Kristin Hannah’s The Great Alone (for the sheer shocking vividness of geography and setting you IN a foreign gorgeous scene) and a Ludlum Bourne no-brakes international spy chase. I could not put down this book. Truly. I skipped dinner last night because I just could not believe Elo placed the main character in the situations she did (a bit of a lovely shock every few chapters leaving me wholly surprised) and I kept having to read until she was out of certain situations.
This book is daring in that it is an honest-to-goodness damn good story that takes risks and wins for it. I want books that give me surprises, lift me into a fictional story. I want a STORY and an escape from dreary-old regular, predictable reality. And this gives it in spades. I also want books that educate me on something. Here, I got a first-class education on certain aspects of Russian culture, history, and also Russian geography I didn’t know. And I want to be immersed in the colors and scents and topography of whatever location the book is in. Hannah did this for Alaska in The Great Alone. And Elo does it for Siberia. As I did with Alaska, I thought of it as white and cold before reading Hannah, only to discover it is all color and culture. Same exact for Siberia with Elo. There’s one set of scenes that stand out. And without giving too much away, I’ll just say that a visit far north to the Reindeer herders, as well as a visit to an abandoned Gulag, will stick with me for a very long time.
If you want to be swept away. Surprised at several turns. If you want to be immersed in a different view of Russia. And you want some good spy action and even solid romance mixed in, seriously, read Finding Katarina M....more
The One That Got Away is a must-read mystery with a beautiful weaving of poetry and literary quality.
But I want to talk about the feels I got readingThe One That Got Away is a must-read mystery with a beautiful weaving of poetry and literary quality.
But I want to talk about the feels I got reading it.
I never expected to find a book that could lyrically render Upstate New York. Having been there many times to visit family, it was always difficult to put into words the feeling I had in that particular environment. But Clifford has captured that feeling perfectly, and surprisingly, beautifully, in a way that makes me rethink the memories of being there and recast them in a more delicate, more complex manner. The One That Got Away is a righteous mystery, involving a complex female lead, one of beautiful melancholy, much like the poetic environment Clifford creates. She's not good. She's not bad. She's not in-between. She's not trying too hard; she's not easy-going. She's all kinds of humanity. And man, does she have a story to tell.
Perhaps I read too much into the story, I do tend to do that. But one major aspect I related to was one that was a bit of a philosophical/psychological question: WHY is our main character pursuing this mystery? Sub and side and supporting characters all ask her this question, why? They argue that the mystery she seeks to unravel has nothing to do with her. So why?
And as it is, it made me consider how many times I have been asked why I am pursuing certain things. Sometimes only we can know why and many times that reason is something we can't quite articulate. But inside of us, as with this character, there is a burning, unrelenting need to dig in to a certain something and pursue it relentlessly. It gives us life, this thing. Anyway, I'm rambling. The point is, the way Clifford wove in this dimension to the main character, her actions, the questions about her motivation, and the sometimes very personal why of it, made me think. It was a profound way of presenting her.
There are also chapters from the POV of a brain-injured individual, who has been sadly institutionalized following a degenerative mental condition and physical brain injury layered on top. As his chapters tolled up, I found myself incredibly moved by him. I won't say more, for fear of giving away any spoilers, but I will say his chapters were also profound, educational, frightening, and yet deeply heartfelt.
There are too many passages that I found beautiful, enough to dog ear numerous pages and/or re-read certain lines several times. Here's one I loved: "The currency of sympathy in the face of tragedy is a strange thing." Here's another, "Parsons was a bruise among scars."
I also loved Clifford's sly ripping on sub-par coffee, a topic dear to me. Such as, "In a town fueled by watered-down Dunkin' Donuts swill and burnt gas station brew..." Ding!
A line about the upstate NY town in the book, "Even the way the traffic here flowed was depressing, everything mismatched and unappealing, like poor people picking out glued-together ribeye at the dollar store."
I really loved this seemingly simplistic thought, but entirely poetic passage, coming from the POV of the brain-injured character, who has flashes of coherent thoughts, but is trapped in a broken body: "I do not know why those big black birds do not fly away. The whole sky is open. They can go anywhere they want. But they just sit on those power lines. They do not even try."
Again, the scenes were so nicely vivid, the landscapes, the structures, the weather, which is to say a lot when writing about upstate New York, which to my mind's eye, is gray on brown. Here was one such scene set-up I was very surprised by and loved, especially for the dance with a taste of gothic (my fave): ..."Alex recognized this wasn't a residence that had been designed this way. Rather, it had been erected piecemeal, part and parcel, extensions and new wings added after the fact. The closer she got, the more she saw a Frankenstein house. The outline of modest brick quarters remained but the rest had clearly been augmented, like a low rider tricked out, gaudy and garish, with fifteen-inch rims and colors too bold. Not that it didn't still look nice--it was probably the nicest house Alex had ever seen in Reine-but there was a grotesque, monstrous element to the home as well, like its architects had the means to do whatever they wanted but lacked the aesthetic acumen to pull off the job tastefully. Colors didn't quite match; styles didn't quite gel, the top floor tacked on, giving the house a childish, tree-fort feel."
I’ve had to take some time and try to come up with a way to articulate how perfect and gorgeous this book is. I met Idra at a reading tonight, at theI’ve had to take some time and try to come up with a way to articulate how perfect and gorgeous this book is. I met Idra at a reading tonight, at the very cool Stella Adler acting studios in the flatiron/Nomad district of NYC. Actors acted out some of the scenes from Those Who Knew, and holy hell, I didn’t expect to stumble into something so cool at a book reading!! I would have paid for the experience.
Anyway. Back to my review. Gahhhhhhh, it’s so hard to really encapsulate what is so magical about Novey’s writing. It is an understatement to say it is rare. Cliche to say it’s in a class of its own. But those things are true, Novey’s work is rare and totally unique. Her themes and subtexts are forthright, raw unflinching honesty. This is something I struggle hard to find in fiction. That rawness, a prose totally undressed by expectations, or dogmas, or formulas. This is Novey’s trueness and what makes her work so rare and gorgeous (and wildly creative and vivid). We got “raw truth” with Emily Dickinson. We got it with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. We got it with Keri Hulme’s fantastical Booker-winning The Bone People. We got it with the damn-fine classic The Mummy Market by Nancy Brelis (which is criminally out of print, a topic I routinely raise here and on social media). I’m failing here, I know. I can’t get this right. Just trust me on this: You know it when you see it and Those Who Knew (as well as her first book, Ways to Disappear) have it—that X factor. That Holy Grail “thing” we crave when we want true writing.
Anyway.
I want to give Those Who Knew ten stars out of five but Goodreads won’t let me. It is filled with fabulous, colorful characters. Poetry. Politics. #metoo. Scenes from plays! Annotated bookstore transaction logs. Philosophy. A mystery. All rolled together in a driving, page-turning plot that is drenched in beauty. Saturated.
I tried to read slow. Novey’s books are like the finest most expensive wines, and you only get one glass, so you try so hard to read slow. But you will fail. I failed. I finished Those Who Knew in one day, just like I finished Ways to Disappear in one day.
Novey is a warm and kind and funny person in person too. So if you’re lucky enough to live along the route of her current book tour, I highly recommend attending....more
I have never voted in the Goodreads awards, but I did this year for Sadie. There are some truly exceptional YA books out there, and I have learned toI have never voted in the Goodreads awards, but I did this year for Sadie. There are some truly exceptional YA books out there, and I have learned to pay attention to this category. I’ll Give You The Sun is an excellent example, and so is Sadie. This gritty, glorious, honest, gorgeous, GORGEOUS book of a strong young woman seeking revenge for horrible crimes against her and her family is striking in its relentlessness and poetry. We don’t have to suffer soft edges here; we get the rawness I crave in writing. A true poetic layering too. I would read every single last thing Summers ever writes. I did the audiobook on this one, which is the best audiobook I’ve ever encountered. The production value is as high as the phenomenon hit Serial. I seriously thought I was listening to an honest to goodness high budget podcast at times. The voice actors were so excellent and convincing. The voice of Sadie (Rebecca Soler) so good I’d be over the moon if she ever read any of my books (and I did ask my publisher to consider her, indeed). ...more
The non-fiction releases this year have been stellar. The Library Book is at the top of the top. I think an indication of whether a book is great isThe non-fiction releases this year have been stellar. The Library Book is at the top of the top. I think an indication of whether a book is great is whether it inspires you to do good in the world, and The Library Book does that for me. In reading it, I realized the enormous list of good deeds libraries do for communities. Thinking further, I note that I haven’t paid nearly enough attention to my own local library. I now intend to involve myself in some way. Orlean has created such a beautiful mash-up masterpiece with The Library Book: part crime novel; part fire science; part How To into the glorious minutia of the functioning of a Library; part history lesson; part expose on the inequalities served on women. And if you’re obsessed with the tiny random details of life like me, you’ll be entranced when Orlean documents the seemingly disconnected topics people investigate and check-out at libraries.
I read this in two days. Could not put down. When done, I was desperate for more. Honestly one of the most riveting true-crime stories I’ve everI read this in two days. Could not put down. When done, I was desperate for more. Honestly one of the most riveting true-crime stories I’ve ever heard. I’m sure Carreyrou is moving on to another investigative project, but I would be first in line to Part II of this tale: investigation into other high-ranking board members and what they knew and when. I’d like to know. Bad Blood is a deep foray into the psychology and damage of sociopaths in power; corporate greed; the fiction of private investment valuations; the shocking lack of due diligence by venture capitalists and men in the highest level of US power; the sadness of talent being savaged by these demons. I’m left struck by three things: the courage of the whistleblowers against what seemed insurmountable odds and relentless power that went personal—-one man commits suicide; the sickness of our economy that hundreds of millions were recklessly wasted on fake innovation when it could have been spent on valid innovation—highlighting the absolute need for regulatory oversight; the brilliance of Carreyrou’s accessible and captivating writing.
I would read this again and I rarely re-read books. ...more
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